Irish Pirate Ballads and Other Songs of the Sea

by Dan Milner

Overview

Although this CD is not credited to a specific artist, by most listeners' standards this would be comfortably classified as a Dan Milner album. Milner sings all 13 tracks on this collection of songs associated with the Irish seafaring life, though he does get instrumental and vocal support from a rotating cast of nine other musicians, Mick Moloney being the most notable of those. While he was born in England and has spent most of his life in North America, Milner is of Irish descent, and while music wasn't usually his full-time profession, he has done several albums of Irish music since the late '90s. One of those, in fact, was the similarly titled 1997 release Irish Ballads & Songs of the Sea. This differs in focus from that previous release, as according to Milner's liner notes, it's "an album of maritime songs from Ireland and its diaspora in which most of the central characters stand uneasy next to the law." There's not much menace and danger in his delivery of the material, however, which is warm and assured. The arrangements are low-key as well, though admirably varied, incorporating mandolin, concertina, piano, guitar, whistle, banjo, accordion, flute, bouzouki, and fiddle; Milner also goes it alone for one a cappella performance, "The Flying Cloud." Aside from offering a personal history of his own experiences as an Irish-American, Milner's notes also offer detailed accounts of the sources of the songs, as well as the real-life characters whose experiences helped shape them. ~ Richie Unterberger

Product Details

Release Date:	02/10/2009
Label:	Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
UPC:	0093074055328
Rank:	43629

Tracks

1. Ten Thousand Miles Away  - Dan Milner
2. The Ballad of ¿¿ Bruadair/Out on the Ocean  - Dan Milner
3. Saucy Ward  - Arthur Duff  - F.R. Higgins  - Dan Milner
4. Captain Coulston  - Dan Milner
5. Granuaile  - Dan Milner
6. Get Up, Jack, John, Sit Down/Miss Thronton's  - Edward Harrigan  - Dan Milner
7. The Flying Cloud  - Dan Milner
8. Larry Maher's Big 5-Gallon Jar  - Dan Milner
9. Bold McCarthy (The City of Baltimore)  - Dan Milner
10. All for Me Grog/Parnell's March  - Dan Milner
11. Castle Gardens (Sixty Years Ago)  - Dan Milner
12. The Lowlands Low  - P.J. McCall  - Patrick Joseph McCall  - Dan Milner
13. The River Lea  - Gina Dunlap  - Dan Milner

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Dan Milner   Primary Artist,Vocals
Joanie Madden   Whistle (Human),Flute,Guest Artist
Gabriel Donohue   Piano,Guitar,Bouzouki,Guest Artist,Mandolin,Accordion
Johnson Girls   Guest Artist
Mick Maloney   Vocals
Susan McKeown   Vocals,Guest Artist
Bob Conroy   Guest Artist
Robbie O'Connell   Vocals,Guest Artist
John Doyle   Guitar,Vocals,Bouzouki,Guest Artist
Mick Moloney   Vocals,Mandolin,Tenor Banjo,Guest Artist
Brian Conway   Fiddle,Guest Artist
Tim Collins   Guest Artist

Technical Credits

Dan Milner   Audio Production,Mixing,Concept,Composer,Producer,Annotation,Liner Notes,Photography
D.A. Sonneborn   Executive Producer
Gabriel Donohue   Mixing,Editing,Engineer,Mastering
P.J. McCall   Composer
F.R. Higgins   Composer
Gina Dunlap   Composer
Mary Monseur   Production Coordination
Carla Borden   Editorial Assistant
Joe Parisi   Design,Layout Design
Patrick Joseph McCall   Composer
Arthur Duff   Composer
Daniel Sheehy   Executive Producer
Edward Harrigan   Composer
Pete Reiniger   Sound Supervision
Mick Moloney   Annotation,Liner Notes